I was not ready for the swim, think it was a combination of the water temp, maybe swimming a bit too much before the race started and the events from the day before. During the swim I kept telling myself that I knew I wasn't going to puke during the swim and not a chance of it happening on the bike, but once I got to the run it was going to happen...and hopefully at the finish line where somebody could photograph it.

Not drink as much the day before and dump a bunch of ice cubes in the water before the race.

Took a bit to get my legs under me getting out of the water. Got all my gear on relatively quickly and was off. Must have been some people trying the shoe trick for the first time because there was a bit of congestion getting on the bike. I also forgot to reset my computer before the race, so I tried to do that while riding the first couple of minutes.

run faster to T1 and reset my computer before the race.

The ride felt pretty good, I still hold back a bit so that I don't bonk during the run. After my experience in my first "big" tri I'm always fearful of going to hard and cramping on the run. I take it pretty easy on the hills and I know I could go harder, but that will come with time and experience.

This will become a re-occurring there - drink less the day before. Push a bit harder on the hills.

Congestion coming into transition, then the volunteers were blocking my rack and telling me to go all the way around. I told them "that's my rack right there" and they slowly got out of my way. Then I stumbled putting my shoes on. All in all it only cost me a few seconds. Had a long run out of transition, but the legs were feeling surprisingly well.

Not much other than work on my bike dismount

Started out pretty quick and felt good, mile one marker came later than I thought it would and that feared me a bit, so I backed off until I knew how much further I had and could hear the music from the finish line. Quads started to cramp during the last mile, but it wasn't serious and definitely not unexpected.

I didn't puke like I thought I was going to at the beginning of the morning.

See similar sections above for swim and bike. May have kicked a bit harder, but I was somewhat afraid of the sand we ran through leading up to the finish. I could just see myself spraining an ankle and ending my first tri season with an injury and some dude passed me at the very end...grrr.

Had some water, red beans and rice, bread with pulled pork and some fruit. Then we found the beer and enjoyed a couple of cold ones.


Dehydration from the day before and lack of sleep.


Great race, I plan on returning next year and finishing in under 1:30:00. Everybody said the race bag was worth your entry fee and it was the best goody bag I've ever received for a race (1 of 4).